Abstract
Patient call-light usage and nurse responsiveness to call lights are two intertwined concepts that could affect patients' safety during hospital stays. Little is known about the relationship between call-light usage and call-light response time. Consequently, this exploratory study examined the relationship between the patient-initiated call-light use rate and the nursing staff's average call-light response time in a Michigan community hospital. It used hospital archived data retrieved from the call-light tracking system for the period from February 2007 through June 2008. Curve estimation regression and multiple regression analyses were conducted. The results showed that the call-light response time was not affected by the total nursing hours or RN hours. The nurse call-light response time was longer when the patient call-light use rate was higher and the average length of stay was shorter. It is likely that a shorter length of stay contributes to the nursing care activity level on the unit because it is associated with a higher frequency of patient admissions/discharges and treatment per patient-day. This suggests that the nursing care activity level on the unit and number ofcall-light alarms could affect nurse call-light response time, independently of the number of nurses available to respond.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 138-143 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | CIN - Computers Informatics Nursing |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Accidental falls
- Call light
- Hospitals
- Inpatients
- Nurses
- Safety
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health Informatics
- Nursing (miscellaneous)